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Friday, June 17, 2011

Fridaygram

When you search with Google, you use words to create your query. That basic fact changed earlier this week when we launched Search by Image. This new feature is well-described by its name: you just hand Google an image, and it searches for similar images on the web. You can try it out by going to Google Image Search and dragging one of the sample images into the search box. This is handy for figuring out the names of things, such as buildings, paintings, and logos, or for finding images that are similar to one you already have.

Search by image is a great example of magical technology that helps people learn or do their jobs. Here’s one that improves your health: spray-on skin. For people with burns and other skin damage, ReCell is a technology that allows doctors to take a sample of healthy skin cells, culture them to grow more, and then literally spray the cells onto the injury. This process speeds healing and reduces the risk of complications. Although it sounds like science fiction, it’s already being used in much of the world.

Finally, you probably saw our playable guitar doodle in honor of Les Paul’s birthday. And you might have seen that the guitar used a lot of cool web technology, including HTML5 Canvas, CSS, JavaScript, Flash, Google Font API, goo.gl, and Google App Engine. But you might not have known that people recorded themselves playing everything from Lady Gaga to Led Zeppelin. Enjoy!

Fridaygram posts are lighter than our usual fare. They're designed for your Friday afternoon and weekend enjoyment. Each Fridaygram item must pass only one test: it has to be interesting to us nerds.